Three Easy and Trendy Ways to DIY a Wedding Cake

Three Easy and Trendy Ways to DIY a Wedding Cake

It seems odd to be thinking about wedding cakes at this time of year, but now is the time that spring brides are beginning to hustle. Even brides with the luxury of having a planner at their disposal are super busy during this time, so just imagine the plight of the DIY-er! I have first-hand experience being a DIY bride, and also being the helper of many. It's hard work but rewarding, especially if you are the creative control freak type. (Ahem. Not that I'd know anything about that!)

The folks at HGTV asked me to create three wedding cakes using bakery-bought (or heck, even grocery store-bought!) white cakes that are easy enough for DIY-ers to achieve. There are so many photo ops and memories tied to a wedding cake that it's something I take quite seriously. Of course they needed to be beautiful, but also current. I decided upon three trends that I've been seeing on wedding-centric websites and blogs.

Rose Gold Art Deco Cake: This metallic has never been more popular and I'm drawn to the color on home decor and kitchen wares, but I especially love all the beautiful engagment rings and wedding bands I've been seeing in rose gold. You'll need rose gold luster dust, confetti sequins and a deco pattern stencil to make this cake.

Watercolor Geode Cake: 2016 was the year that the geode cake exploded on the internet, and I have been a fan of the aesthetic from day one! This cake employs a very simple frosting technique using different colors of buttercream and natural crystal geodes for cake toppers.

Fruit, Floral and Gold Leaf Cake: The application of gold leaf to a cake instantly dresses it up and it's an easy (and speedy!) task. Here it's been sparsely applied to buttercream. The effect is subtle but sooo shimmery! Using in-season fruit and pretty (nontoxic!) greenery really makes this cake both simple and stunning.

There's a gallery on HGTV.com filled with pictures and complete how-to instructions for all three cakes, and you can find it at the following link!

Heather, how did you get such a thick consistent color on the rose gold one? i had tried to make a gold sequin cake for my best friends bachelorette party, and you could clearly see the colored sequins through the gold. as my husband put it, it looked like curried lentils :)

Did i just not use enough lustre dust? did i use too much vodka when painting?

Hi! Great questions! I think you were almost, almost there with the 'curried lentil' look (ha!) but I suspect you needed more lustre dust. I used 4 grams for this 8-inch tier, which is two containers. I went pretty easy on the vodka too. The 'paint' I created was pretty thick, just thin enough to spread across the confetti. After the sequins dried a bit, I went back over all the sequins with a dry brush loaded with rose gold luster dust. This helped get into all of those nooks and crannies and gave the cake shimmer. I'd recommend stocking up on plenty of lustre dust, applying a thicker paint, and then dry brushing more lustre dust on afterward. I hope this helps! That was soooo nice of you to make your friend's cake for her, even if it didn't turn out exactly as you'd hoped. xo-h

Beautiful cakes! I am helping a DIY bride and making her cake in March. I can't wait to try out the gold leaf! Her colors are black, white, and gold so it will be the perfect amount of sparkle! Did you just use the normal gold leaf from a craft store or is there a different type used to be food safe?

I like the watercolor cake, but I would be very nervous about putting a rock on a cake! You just know that SOMEONE is going to assume it's candy and try to bite into it without hesitation! Do you have any suggestions for edible toppers?